The other child
by Hecate81
Summary: The encounter with Alec in Bag'em had consequences for the hooker.


Title: The Other Child  
Author: Hecate  
Fandom: Dark Angel  
Ratingf: PG-13  
Category/Character: gen, the hooker from "Bag'em"  
Summary: The encounter with Alec in "Bag'em" had consequences for her  
Note: Thanks to bigedna for the beta.  
Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine, no money is made.

Cecilia always dreamed of one day leaving the shit town she was born in, and there were times when she believed that it was possible and there were times when she was close to making it. She sold her body to the men she had known as a child, to her father's co-workers and her brother's friends, and she hoped they didn't tell anybody but she knew it was an open secret all over the village. But it didn't matter because she would get out of there, she would leave it all behind: The fucked up family that she had to call her own, the too-small houses that were built too close to the woods, the sounds that came from the darkness between the trees and the noise of military vehicles that had started almost a decade ago and that became as familiar to her as her father's screams. 

But then something went wrong with one of the guys she had been with, a random stranger coming through town, good-looking and young. Something went wrong and she got pregnant and she couldn't afford to get rid of it and it turned into Laura, her daughter. And as she watched her body change and her usual customers turned away she knew that leaving town had just gotten close to impossible and she would be stuck between the dirty brown and the fading grey of her home town forever. 

When Laura was still in her she often kicked her so hard that Cecilia fell on her knees, clutching her stomach in pain. The doctor's comments turned from appreciation of the baby's strength to odd looks he gave her and mutters she didn't understand. She knew something was wrong, she felt it, but when Laura was there everything seemed to be alright. Two hands, two feet, five fingers and five toes at the right places. Laura had the bluest eyes Cecilia had ever seen and they didn't fade in the months after her birth and she had a huge smile that gave Cecilia a hope she had never known before. 

Laura grew a bit faster than Cecilia had expected but she wasn't exactly an expert on children so it didn't really worry her. Laura was strong, too, and when her small fingers wrapped around Cecilia's she could feel the pressure behind the grip. 

Laura had always been the other child in the house because Mary had a little child, too. But Mary had a husband and Mary almost had her own house and Mary was older. Cecilia was a whore and Laura was a bastard. And both of them were worthless and dirty. But it was ok for Cecilia because she didn't want to have any worth for this family. She wanted out, and although Laura was the reason she still was there, she wanted out with Laura. 

Their village was not only small but it was also in the nowhere, surrounded by woods. There was one road that was paved, the rest was dust and earth and garbage. One grocery store, one school, one church. It was lonely and it was always behind when it came to news. The transgenic panic hit it some weeks later than the big cities, but it hit harder. Their little newspaper was full with stories about the freaks that broke out of a military base. It was full with descriptions of those monsters and what they had done. And then...then they found out about those who looked normal. Who looked like humans. 

With a barcode on their necks. 

And Cecilia remembered. The guy she called Laura's father in her head, the one everything went wrong with. He had a barcode on his neck. And the freaky kids who went crazy in the grocery store, too. And...something had been wrong back then, there had been even more soldiers than usual around and they stormed that guy's motel room after she told them he had a barcode as well. And then all of them were gone. The soldiers, the freaky kids and the guy. 

Laura was his, there was no doubt in her mind. Laura was his and he had a barcode on his neck and God, he belonged to this freaks, he was one and Laura was his and... 

Laura was hers and Laura was his but he wasn't there and she was Cecilia's responsibility and Cecilia had to do something because Laura was a fucking half breed and she was already so fucking strong and when she grew up...when she grew up... 

If she grew up. 

Without Laura she might get the money together to leave this town. Without Laura she might find a decent guy to marry, to have a future with. To have children with. Other children. 

Normal children. 

But Laura...Laura was Cecilia's daughter, damnit, and she wasn't even a year old and Cecilia was still so scared of hurting her when they slept in the same bed but she couldn't put Laura in her own bed because then Cecilia got up almost every hour to check on her. Her little one and she loved her and she couldn't...she... 

Laura was one of the monsters. 

Cecilia looked at Laura for a last time, looked into her heaven coloured eyes and her baby face. She smiled at her because Laura was just so beautiful, and she took her daughter's pillow into her hands. And then she took a deep breath. 


End file.
